A Pottstown man is headed to prison for his role in a fatal 2018 home invasion
Camren Williams, 18, mistakenly believed he and his teenage accomplice were robbing the home of a "big drug dealer," according to investigators.
A Pottstown man is heading to state prison after admitting his role in a fatal home invasion that investigators believe was a case of mistaken identity.
Camren Williams, 18, pleaded guilty Thursday to third-degree murder and related charges in the November 2018 death of Sylvia Williams, who was no relation. He was sentenced by Montgomery County Court Judge Richard P. Haaz to eight to 20 years in prison.
The 38-year-old mother of three was shot once in the head by Williams’ accomplice, Aaron Taylor, 19, after the two forced their way into her house in search of money and drugs, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.
The two mistakenly believed they had broken into the home of a “big drug dealer,” the affidavit said.
Assistant District Attorney Allison Ruth, the lead prosecutor on the case, said Williams cooperated with police from the beginning, confessed to his role in the robbery, helped lead investigators to Taylor, and agreed to testify against him at a trial.
Instead, Taylor pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, conspiracy, and robbery charges in November, and is serving a 30- to 60-year sentence in state prison.
“We were grateful that we were able to prosecute the shooter, and we were grateful to be able to get both of the men who were involved,” Ruth said. “And so we think it was a fair resolution to allow him to enter an open guilty plea, and to take that cooperation into consideration.”
Williams’ attorney, John I. McMahon Jr., said he was satisfied with Haaz’s ruling.
“I think the judge took into consideration all of the mitigating circumstances that we argued, and I’m very relieved that Mr. Williams received the sentence that he did,” McMahon said.
He added that the sentencing hearing was one of the most emotional he had experienced, with tearful testimony from the families of both the victim and Williams.
On the day of the murder, officials said, the two men pushed their way into Sylvia Williams’ home on North Washington Street in Pottstown around 6:30 p.m., while a maintenance worker was changing the lock on the front door. Camren Williams pointed a BB gun at the repairman and told him to stay put, then forced him into the kitchen, according to the criminal complaint.
Sylvia Williams and her boyfriend, Aries Rumley Sr., 36, were in a bedroom upstairs when they heard yelling. Rumley headed downstairs to see what was going on, and soon saw the armed and masked men. He returned to the second-floor bedroom and shut the door, holding it tight with his feet.
Taylor, armed with a handgun, followed him upstairs, tried to force the door, and then fired through it.
The criminal complaint says Rumley heard one shot, “then noticed Sylvia Williams was not moving and was bleeding from her head.”